Penal law can also be known as criminal law. Criminal law is the body of statutory and common law dealing with crime and the legal punishment of legal offenses. It is based on the four theories of the criminal justice system namely, punishment, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. All this imposition of sanctions concerning the crime is to achieve justice and peaceable social order. The goal of criminal law is to build social control. It aims at discouraging behavior that is unfavorable to the wellbeing of the society as well as behavior that test the government’s authority and legitimacy. The criminal laws and punishments are set up in a way that they act as restraints and help in the restraining behavior of the people.

The criminal charges are filed, and the criminal proceedings take place in a series of stages. Then, it’s the police who react and take action to any one’s complaint lodged. The police may also feel suspicious, and in such case, they investigate, take down statements from various essential witnesses and based on the findings make a report. During investigation process, they could be forced to arrest some people. They’ll as an alternative finish the report and forward it to the prosecutor’s office for assessment. Although a suspect might be mentioned in a police report, it will be the prosecutor who will be authorized whether or not criminal charges will be filed against him. The process for filing criminal offenses may be different amongst jurisdictions.

The police are given greater discretionary powers by some jurisdiction in charging defendants with specific offenses. The others are there to give more and higher powers on this regard to the prosecutor. The person concerned or the defendant may be arrested for a civil infraction, for a misdemeanor, or even for a felony after being stopped by the police. Although criminal charges are usually chosen solely by the prosecutor’s office, the police might be arresting a person while also recommending a certain charge.

The procedure of criminal justice starts off with an alleged offense. The police examine after the accusation that the accuser makes. The police in this criminal law cases should work as representatives of the government. The grand jury brings a complaint or an accusation, or even a formal charging document is filed in a court in the appropriate jurisdiction. A prosecuting lawyer will represent the interests of the government. The interests of the suspect are represented by the defense lawyer or by the suspect acting as his or her lawyer. Irrespective of local laws that might be followed by mandatory or discretionary appeals to higher courts, the procedure ends with a bench trial. The criminal attorney ensures that you understand your rights with the police, your rights in the courtroom and your rights upon sentence.